Flood watch: South Florida deluge to continue through Thursday morning

Bill Kearney, Abigail Hasebroock, Angie DiMichele, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Updated ·5 min read

The incessant rain pummeling South Florida through Thursday is making some who experienced the bizarre, unprecedented April flooding worry.

While the nearly 26 inches of rain that fell in Fort Lauderdale in a matter of hours and caused severe flash flooding in April is not in the forecast, the National Weather Service Miami is forecasting the possibility of up to 10 inches of rain in some areas of South Florida and likely flash flooding in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties as the heavy storms continue.

The rain will continue unabated until Thursday morning and recur periodically all day Thursday, forecasters said.

Broward County Public Schools said in a statement late Wednesday night that all schools and district offices will be closed Thursday. All after-school activities were canceled Wednesday. Broward College also canceled campus activities Wednesday night after a “thorough assessment of its campuses and centers,” it said online.

A flood watch stretching from St. Lucie County south to Homestead is in place through 10 a.m. Thursday. The watch area includes nearly all of the populated areas of Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.

Between early Wednesday morning and about 8 Wednesday night, 4.2 inches of rain was recorded at the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, according to preliminary NWS Miami data.

Pembroke Pines recorded 3.3 inches Wednesday, while areas of Miami-Dade recorded between 2.5 and 3.4 inches. West Palm Beach recorded just over an inch.

Totals for the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, the airport in Pompano Beach and in Homestead in Miami-Dade were not available Wednesday night. The weather service had an issue with its rain gauge about midday, NWS Miami meteorologist Ana Torres-Vazquez said.

Some areas of Fort Lauderdale had received 6.5 inches of rain by Wednesday evening, city officials said.

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A flash flood warning was issued for Broward County and northern and central parts of Miami-Dade County shortly before 9:30 p.m., about the same time as Wednesday night’s high tide. The warning said it will be difficult for many coastal areas to drain because of high tide.

By the time the rain stops, the eastern coastal areas of South Florida are likely to see 4 to 6 more inches of rain through Thursday, the weather service said, with more than 8 inches in some areas.

The immediate eastern coast of South Florida is expected to see the highest rainfall totals, and the areas that might see up to 10 inches of rain in a “worst-case” scenario are just north and south of Fort Lauderdale.

The area of greatest concern as of Wednesday afternoon was near the Fort Lauderdale International Airport — the same area that was hammered in April, resulting in the airport being closed for two days, and highly destructive flooding in nearby Edgewood, River Oaks, Shady Banks and Melrose Park.

Maritza Pagan, 49, lives in Melrose Park, an area hard hit by the record-breaking April flooding. She and her family were upended then when the rains flooded their neighborhood and displaced her and her husband, children and grandchildren for about a month.

“I had to do everything pretty much to rebuild,” Pagan said. “We had to move to two homes, one of our cars flooded. My kids were in two different places, we have one vehicle, we were dealing with my kids and my grandkids, we were taking six kids to six schools.”

Pagan said she put up sandbags Wednesday, just as she did in April, but is anxious about the next 24 hours of rain. For now, Pagan thinks she may have to cancel a surgery scheduled for Thursday morning.

“Needless to say, I’ve been extremely worried,” she said. “I’m just praying that nothing happens.”

Flash flooding is likely from the Florida Keys north to West Palm Beach as the storms roll through, capable of dropping up to 3 inches each hour, forecasters said Wednesday afternoon.

There is “considerable uncertainty” about where the highest totals will be because the bands of the repeating storms are difficult to predict, the discussion said. Within a small area, there could be large differences between rainfall totals.

A wind advisory is also in effect for all coastal Atlantic areas for easterly winds of 20 to 30 mph with possible gusts to 40 mph.

Some areas, such as South Dixie Highway south of Atlantic Boulevard in Pompano Beach, experienced significant street flooding on Tuesday evening, as early squalls dumped 3.6 inches of rain on the area.

Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport saw 4.5 inches of rain Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, a total of 101 inches of rain has been recorded in the Fort Lauderdale area since January, NWS Miami meteorologist Ana Torres-Vazquez said.

Between January and December 2022, eastern Broward County recorded just under 65 total inches of rain for the year, according to South Florida Water Management District data.

Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner John Herbst said the city’s pumping trucks, which essentially vacuum water off roads, have also been patrolling the areas. One pump was at the ready in the area of Melrose Manors and five in the area of River Oaks and Edgewood, Herbst’s office said in a news release.

There is also a risk of coastal flooding due to king tides during morning rush hour this week.

“The flood watch was put out in advance because we’re in the new moon phase,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Will Redman. “There is potential for coastal flooding in general, and if we have rain on top of that it could worsen things.”

“When you’ve got saturated ground, then you get rain on top of it, there’s nowhere for the rain water to go,” said Herbst. “That’s why we get more standing rain water right now than you might otherwise have if it were not a king tide.”

High tides are expected at 10:03 a.m. and 10:03 p.m. Thursday, and at 10:52 a.m. and 10:57 p.m. Friday.

Fort Lauderdale officials said they expect city services to operate normally Thursday.

Earlier this month, the weather service called for a relatively wet winter in South Florida, due in part to the influence of El Niño, which causes the subtropical jet stream to shift to the south, carrying moisture from the Pacific, and picking up even more moisture over the Gulf of Mexico while steering storms across the southern U.S.